Who would have thunk it. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, on a 4-3 vote, overturned the gerrymandering of state legislative districts by the Republican-dominated legislature. Since time is short before the primary, I think what will happen is that the districts put in place after the 2000 census will remain for the 2012 elections. Don’t take that as gospel--I’m guessing here.
I should note that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to overturn even the most blatant of political gerrymanders. It has ruled that the districts must be relatively equal in population, and legislatures are not allowed to overtly discriminate against racial minorities, but political gerrymanders are not unconstitutional. The reason the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the way it did is because of the state constitution, which says that communities should not be unnecessarily split.
Second, and I’m pretty sure this is correct, the Congressional districts are not affected by the ruling. That means that most of Carbon County will be in Rep. Holden’s district for the November election. In addition, none of the statewide candidates are affected by the ruling.
Third, if I am right and the 2001 lines are used, Rep. Heffley is toast.
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